Recently, there has been an increasing interest in reducing dietary sodium consumption. Many health organizations and professionals suggest that excessive sodium use may lead to or aggravate detrimental health conditions such as hypertension and arterial disease.
Some prior attempts to lower dietary sodium can be broadly grouped into three general categories, which include multi component ingredient blends that include varying amounts of sodium chloride; physiochemical modifications to evaporated salts; and salt substitutes such as non sodium and botanical flavorants. These approaches may also be used in combination. However, except in medical and niche applications, the complete elimination or substitution of dietary sodium chloride is difficult and generally elusive.
Salt blends and substitutes employing some of these concepts have been commercialized to varying degrees of success. For example, a number of low- or no-sodium products use potassium chloride in conjunction with other materials, sometimes referred to as masking agents, which are used to modify the bitterness or other off flavors generally associated with potassium salt. Other attempts have employed mixtures of ingredients to modify taste as well as the overall perception so they more closely resemble the physical characteristics of salt, such as particle size, bulk density and the general feel and appearance of salt. Most models based on this practice employ flavor neutral or inert fillers and carriers in conjunction with sodium chloride and other salt. Examples of such fillers and carriers include carbohydrates such as starches, maltodextrins, fibers, waxes and other materials both soluble and insoluble. However, the use of fillers fails to overcome the highly crystallized nature of sodium chloride which hinders solubility of the salt, such as in low water environments.
Further, the use of sodium salt alternatives has been studied. These alternatives include other salts such as potassium, magnesium, calcium and combinations thereof, and in other cases flavorings derived from plant, microbial, animal, mineral or synthetic sources that mimic, enhance or otherwise promote and deliver the taste and sense of table salt.
While useful in select applications, many of these replacement products impart off flavors or are simply too weak to provide the expected flavor. Dilution is a particular challenge in systems that attempt to lower sodium in the absence of mimetic agents.
Other teachings have focused on the size, structure or dissolution characteristics of the salt crystal. These teachings highlight the poor solvation and dissociation properties of salt crystals. Particle size, morphology, and associated physical characteristics all relate to dissolution which contributes to how sodium chloride is consumed and used in the diet. For instance, reducing the size or increasing the surface area of a salt particle will increase the rate of dissolution. Further, the natural crystal structure of salt inherently makes it a poor delivery system for sodium especially in an environment such as the mouth where free water is limited. This limitation of table salt (or salt used in dry applications) can be partially resolved using some of the modifications noted, but these approaches have other issues including flowability and dusting that arise out of trying to dispense flaked powders and the like.
There are other examples of physical modifications or chemical additions to alter the taste and perception of table salt in order to achieve low sodium compositions that offer the taste experience of common table salt. Many of these methodologies and practices, however, have not yielded the expected results.